[HMM]⋙ Descargar Gratis How the Dukes Stole Christmas A Holiday Romance Anthology edition by Sarah MacLean Tessa Dare Sophie Jordan Joanna Shupe Romance eBooks

How the Dukes Stole Christmas A Holiday Romance Anthology edition by Sarah MacLean Tessa Dare Sophie Jordan Joanna Shupe Romance eBooks

Download As PDF : How the Dukes Stole Christmas A Holiday Romance Anthology edition by Sarah MacLean Tessa Dare Sophie Jordan Joanna Shupe Romance eBooks

How the Dukes Stole Christmas A Holiday Romance Anthology edition by Sarah MacLean Tessa Dare Sophie Jordan Joanna Shupe Romance eBooks

The rules for the four stories in this book seem to be that a grumpy duke must be the hero, and a love-inducing, foul-tasting magical shortbread cookie must play a part.

That shortbread cookie must have been a doozy for the authors to handle. Only Joanna Shupe managed to integrate the cookies into the story -- and she did it cleverly.

The ill-tempered dukes included another clever move by Shupe. Her late 1800's entry has as its hero an American newspaper publisher whose first name is Duke. That made me smile.

A reader's enjoyment of the book will depend on her or his ability to suspend disbelief. Two tales hang near the top of the Christmas tree; two hang on the bottom branches.

Sarah McLean's entry, Duke of Christmas Present, is a riff on Dickens' A Christmas Carol. The duke is even named Eben, in honor of Ebenezer Scrooge. Like Scrooge, he ditched his true love to pursue his business interests. She returns 12 years later, popping through a hidden door to remind him of their past. The story is glum and repetitive. The h keeps prodding Eben and he feels something crack inside himself. Then he seems to patch up the crack and they go through the whole process all over again in the next chapter.

Sophie Jordan's Heiress Alone was another one-note entry. This one more closely resembles Home Alone (hence the title). Annis, a member of a large family, is left behind in a Scottish manor, but is rescued by Sinclair, the local Duke. Annis -- get this-- has decided to become a nun to get away from her large family. She has no strong religious convictions, she just wants some quiet time to read. Her family, by the way, is not Catholic. But before she takes vows, she decides to constantly bed the duke to she will have some memories. The story is one long sex scene.

I enjoyed Tessa Dare's Meet Me in Mayfair. A down-to-earth Louisa accidentally spends an evening wandering around London with a duke who is going to evict her family from their beloved home. The spritely couple changes their minds about each other. There is a happy ending.

I also liked Joanna Shupe's Christmas in Central Park. Rose Walker secretly writes an advice column for publisher Duke Havermeyer. He gives her one evening to host a dinner party for his board of directors. There is a lot of scurrying behind the scenes and then a happy ending.

The difference between the two sets of stories is, I think, that the better stories have more than one bow in their quiver, so to speak. The authors provide depth, humanity, interesting quirks and a range of emotions for their stories.


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How the Dukes Stole Christmas A Holiday Romance Anthology edition by Sarah MacLean Tessa Dare Sophie Jordan Joanna Shupe Romance eBooks Reviews

What a wonderful way to begin the Christmas Season! I love all 4 of the novellas from some of my favorite authors.

“Meet Me in Mayfair” by Tessa Dare, “The Duke of Christmas Present” by Sarah MacLean, “Heiress Alone” by Sophie Jordan, and “Christmas in Central Park” by Joanna Shupe were all fun, quick reading, and tied together by a 'magical' shortbread recipe. I'm not sure I love the idea of the tie-in, but it was a fun addition. The recipe is in the back of the book and I'll have to try it!

If you want quick, fulfilling reads, purchase this book, sit down with some shortbread and hot chocolate, put a blanket across you knees, and spend some time in the past!
This is an anthology of four short stories with a Christmas theme. The stories are not connected to one another (other than a recipe for a special shortbread and the holiday theme) so each can be read on its own.

MEET ME IN MAYFAIR by Tessa Dare Louisa Ward has one night to catch the eye of a wealthy gentleman and only weeks to convince him to marry her before her family will be evicted from their home by the Duke of Thorndale. A turn of fate, however, puts Thorndale in Louisa's path. I enjoyed this one because the hours the couple end up spending together which felt sweet and romantic. Although the story is short, I did get the connection between the characters. The story is also funny at times, as it is a series of adventures and misadventures. I enjoyed this one. Rating 4 stars.

THE DUKE OF CHRISTMAS PRESENT by Sarah MacLean Eben, Duke of Allryd is obsessed with work and his wealth. Twelve years ago, this obsession led to the love of his life leaving him. Now the ghost of Christmas past has returned to Eben in the form of Lady Jacqueline Mosby. This is a wonderful adaption of A Christmas Carol (but with a happy ending for the romance). Eben is a sad, lonely man but is not a bad person. He is a man who focused on saving his dukedom from financial ruin and yet forgot to include the woman that he loved. I loved the relationship between Eben and Jack which was sweet and so perfect and I grieved as Eben let it slip away until Jack left as well. Then Jack returns and ends up saving Eben from himself. This is the best of this anthology and a Christmas romance that I will return to again. Rating 5 stars.

HEIRESS ALONE by Sophie Jordan Annis Bannister is mistakenly left home alone by her family. When her Duke neighbor comes to rescue the servants from a roving band of thieves, Annis is forced to seek refuge with him as well. This one was just okay for me. I never really felt a connection between the characters and thus the quick progression in their relationship didn't work for me. The hero always felt indistinct to me and thus I couldn't really understand his connection with the heroine. Rating 2.5 stars.

CHRISTMAS IN CENTRAL PARK by Joanna Shupe Rose writes a column as Mrs. Walker who gives advice on households and cooking. Rose, however, is not married, doesn't have a house and certainly can't cook. When the newspaper's owner, Duke Havemeyer, requests that Rose host a Christmas party at her home, Rose has to acquire a house, a husband and the ability to cook a dinner. The problem is that a "married" woman shouldn't be so interested in her boss. This one was mixed for me. I thought the setup was really good and things went well until the dinner party. Once that was over, the entire resolution was so quick that I didn't feel it was in characters with the rest of the story. I was disappointed in that because I thought the beginning of the story was so interesting that I would have liked something better than Rose making demands and the hero just giving in to her. Rating 3.5 stars.
The stories are OK. Not bad. Except that I could not find a review that enlightened me on the sexual content. Therefore, I took a chance and purchased the set. Tessa Dare, to her credit, waited until the Epilogue to describe marital sex. The others, under different circumstances all involving the Christmas season, shortbread and snow, had the H and h humping like rabbits at every opportunity. This is not my idea of a Regency Christmas. So, there you are. My, not so humble, opinion. 🎄
The rules for the four stories in this book seem to be that a grumpy duke must be the hero, and a love-inducing, foul-tasting magical shortbread cookie must play a part.

That shortbread cookie must have been a doozy for the authors to handle. Only Joanna Shupe managed to integrate the cookies into the story -- and she did it cleverly.

The ill-tempered dukes included another clever move by Shupe. Her late 1800's entry has as its hero an American newspaper publisher whose first name is Duke. That made me smile.

A reader's enjoyment of the book will depend on her or his ability to suspend disbelief. Two tales hang near the top of the Christmas tree; two hang on the bottom branches.

Sarah McLean's entry, Duke of Christmas Present, is a riff on Dickens' A Christmas Carol. The duke is even named Eben, in honor of Ebenezer Scrooge. Like Scrooge, he ditched his true love to pursue his business interests. She returns 12 years later, popping through a hidden door to remind him of their past. The story is glum and repetitive. The h keeps prodding Eben and he feels something crack inside himself. Then he seems to patch up the crack and they go through the whole process all over again in the next chapter.

Sophie Jordan's Heiress Alone was another one-note entry. This one more closely resembles Home Alone (hence the title). Annis, a member of a large family, is left behind in a Scottish manor, but is rescued by Sinclair, the local Duke. Annis -- get this-- has decided to become a nun to get away from her large family. She has no strong religious convictions, she just wants some quiet time to read. Her family, by the way, is not Catholic. But before she takes vows, she decides to constantly bed the duke to she will have some memories. The story is one long sex scene.

I enjoyed Tessa Dare's Meet Me in Mayfair. A down-to-earth Louisa accidentally spends an evening wandering around London with a duke who is going to evict her family from their beloved home. The spritely couple changes their minds about each other. There is a happy ending.

I also liked Joanna Shupe's Christmas in Central Park. Rose Walker secretly writes an advice column for publisher Duke Havermeyer. He gives her one evening to host a dinner party for his board of directors. There is a lot of scurrying behind the scenes and then a happy ending.

The difference between the two sets of stories is, I think, that the better stories have more than one bow in their quiver, so to speak. The authors provide depth, humanity, interesting quirks and a range of emotions for their stories.